Problem: If the sales tax in your city is $8.5\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$174$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
Answer: In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${8.5\%} \times {\$174} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $8.5\%$ is equivalent to $8.5 \div 100$ $8.5 \div 100 = 0.085$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.085$ $\times$ $$174$ = $$14.79$ You would pay $$14.79$ in sales tax.